USF Sarasota-Manatee is housing New College students for roughly $1M

Jonathan Smalenski and Adrian Orozco have been roommates at USF Sarasota-Manatee’s Atala Hall since the fall — except they’re not USF students.
The two New College of Florida (NCF) sophomores moved to the residence hall after NCF had trouble accommodating student residents on its own campus.
Atala Hall opened in fall 2024 and is USF Sarasota-Manatee’s first residence hall. Despite the efforts to “invite” USF students to the dorms, over half the beds are being rented by NCF.
It cost NCF approximately $1 million to rent 106 beds at the 200-bed Atala Hall for the 2024-25 academic year, said Ana Hernandez, associate vice president for Housing and Residential Education at USF.
Although NCF rents over half the beds, only 74 NCF students are housed at Atala Hall, Hernandez said.
However, Smalenski said the relationship between NCF and USF residents isn’t always the best.
“Nobody really says anything to us,” Smalenski said. “We also don’t really talk to the USF students, just because our schedules are so different.”
NCF has dealt with insufficient housing since its then-interim President Richard Corcoran closed three residence halls in fall 2023 for poor air quality and mold issues.
Since then, NCF has relocated some student residents to local hotels and temporary pre-built dorms for around $6.8 million.
NCF contacted USF last summer regarding its “excess demand” and need for additional housing, Hernandez said.
“We thought it would be good to partner with our neighbor,” Hernandez said.
USF Sarasota-Manatee and NCF are located about a mile away from each other.
NCF students can apply to live at Atala Hall through NCF’s housing portal and will be charged within their tuition semesterly. Residents must comply with the USF Student Code of Conduct.
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Alec Jimenez, a USF alumnus, is an administrative specialist for the Campus Student Center, where Atala Hall is located. Because Jimenez works at the front desk, he often helps when NCF students have questions.
“There is definitely some learning curve when it comes to living in a new place, specifically for a school that’s not the one you attend,” Jimenez said.
NCF students living at Atala Hall have access to all the amenities USF residential students have, including laundry facilities, study rooms, TV lounges and a community kitchen, Hernandez said.
However, NCF residents can’t attend events thrown by USF. They also can’t room with USF students and are exclusively housed on the third and fourth floors.
The housing agreement between NCF and USF, formally known as a letter of understanding, states “there may be an additional activity and services fee payment required” for NCF residents found utilizing “non-residential services.”
Orozco said the USF resident assistants and students try to help the NCF residents fit in.
“Sometimes, we get invited to student-led events, but if it’s thrown by the school, we can’t go to them,” Orozco said.
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NCF’s Gordon E. Michalson Hall, Peggy Bates Hall and Elaine and Harvey Rothenberg Hall used to accommodate around 250 students — until Corcoran closed them in 2023 after an engineering report revealed air and mold issues.
The three residence halls are not being renovated at the moment “due to the financial realities of what such an overhaul would require,” said Nathan March, an NCF spokesperson.

Smalenski and Orozco are on NCF’s baseball team. They go back and forth between campuses multiple times a day for their practices.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Corcoran as NCF’s Interim President in spring 2023 as an “experiment in conservative higher education reform,” planning to turn NCF into a “classical” liberal arts college.
NCF established an athletic program that same semester. In fall 2023, 115 student-athletes enrolled in the around 730-student school.
Jimenez said NCF athletes are the students he sees the most at Atala Hall.
“They’re always coming in and out with some sort of practice gear with them,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez said many students take a walkway from USF Sarasota-Manatee to NCF, which is roughly one mile in distance and about a 25-minute walk.
Part of the walkway, however, is under construction. This creates an obstacle for those walking by, who have to find a way around it through the grass, mud or the beach volleyball courts.

Instead of taking the walkway, Smalenski said he drives between campuses and always gives rides to Orozco.
“I mean, driving is not really much of an issue,” Smalenski said. “It’s just a little drive away.”
Parking permits are interchangeable between NCF and USF Sarasota-Manatee, according to NCF.
Related: USF parking has cashed in over $25M in permit sales since 2021
March said NCF still needs additional student housing, and further ideas will be addressed in the new Campus Master Plan.
NCF has worked to make housing arrangements “as seamless as possible” for students, March said.
USF and NCF haven’t started any conversations regarding housing for the 2025-26 academic year, Hernandez said.